A father who took his son on a bloody revenge mission in which the wrong man was beaten with a meat cleaver while he slept, has failed to win a cut in his sentence at London's Court of Appeal.

Roy Moore senior, 42, of Connaught House, Connaught Gardens, Muswell Hill, north London, was jailed for ten years at Chelmsford Crown Court in July after a jury convicted him of two counts of aggravated burglary.

His son, Roy Moore junior, 20, of Anchor Road, Clacton, received a five-year sentence for his role in the attack, while his brother, John Moore, 41, also of Clacton, was jailed for eight years after admitting two charges of aggravated burglary.

Mr Justice Curtis told the Appeal Court the August 2003 "revenge attack" in Clacton was prompted by a family grudge against Clacton man Rex Hill.

But the Hadleigh Road flat which the gang targeted turned out to be the home of a completely different man - 26-year-old Graham Gigg - who was set upon while fast asleep.

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Judge and Mr Justice McCombe, said the gang were armed with a meat cleaver and a length of wood.

Mr Gigg was struck with such force that the cleaver penetrated his skull, while his achilles tendon was also severed in the onslaught.

Even when Moore senior was alerted they had got the wrong man he continued to beat his victim, "severing a tendon on his hand".

Mr Justice Curtis said Moore senior's offence was aggravated by the fact that this was a "revenge attack" and that he had carried on after discovering they had got the wrong man.

"Ten years was not a day too long," the judge concluded.

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Published Monday, February 14, 2005

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